sd_buckeye

does anybody know if bucks rub on the way to their bed or on the way out? How close will they make rubs to their bedding areas?

skeeter 7MM

IME they rub going and coming. I will not hunt a rubline that is one directional as to me that indicates he uses that path on occasion vs regularily. If you find rubs on either sides of the trees higher % that he'll actually show up. Rubs are nothing more than an indicatation a buck was their at one time or another. Whether astarting point or adding to a collection of other sign such as tracks, scrapes, does, etc to indicate the area is frequented by bucks.

I have found rublines very close to were they are bedding but not always. The majority of rubs I find are somewhere in transition. Closer to the food source the more I find, though I hunt further back to increase my odds of actually seeing him during legal hours.

I am a rub junkie but in all reality hunting just a rubline or scrape has not beenas productive for me in the past. I use it formulate a plan where to intercept deer and buck movements in the areas they feel secure in moving under sunshine.AKA Transition or staging areas off the open spaces.

sd_buckeye

Thanks for the advice! See, the situation is this, I have got a spot on the land I hunt, and it is the only crossing to get over the creek for about 600yds or more each way. There is HEAVY tracks everywherearound it andover it. The one side leads upa draw which goes out top to where they feed. There is probably 15-20 trees and branches that are ripped up in the direction of going out the draw to feed. They are all very very fresh. When I was stalking a doe(up the draw a ways) I kicked on accident agood sizebuck(130+), and he was bedded down on the side of the draw about 50yards up into it. If it is that deer tearing it up, was he rippin it up on way to bed, or was it a different one on the way out?